EQ Magazine - October 2008 - (Page 37)

around, and listen critically to determine which combination of live and dead areas in your studio sounds the best. Go with wood. Of all the building materials that can be used in a studio, wood is king. Not only does it make a room livelier, but most woods reflect the audible frequency range pretty evenly so that a room’s natural EQ stays flatter. In addition, wood’s early reflections are very flattering—a big plus for recording drums. So make a wood floor part of your studio’s sonic equation—even if it means throwing down a couple of pieces of plywood. (A small, thin rug can be used to keep the drums from sliding around.) Diffuse. Diffusion evenly distributes some of the random reflections in a room, making the enviroment sound open and spacious. Home studios can embrace this effect by hanging diffuser panels on the walls, or by simply putting other objects in the room (such as instruments, music stands, or even people—although people will absorb, as well). Control reflections off low ceilings. As many home studios are in homes, ceilings tend to be lower than what you’d see in a commercial recording facility. Early reflections from low ceilings can wreak havoc with drum tones, so use some absorption directly over the drums to minimize the adverse effects. Here’s another tip: Avoid omni overhead mics in this situation, as they’ll “hear” more early reflections than mics with tighter polar patterns (such as cardioid). Compress the room. Set up a couple of room mics some distance from the drums, and compress them heavily to punch up the room tone. Of course, a small space still won’t produce as much “air” as a large room, but this technique should still improve punch—especially if you experiment with the positioning of the room mics. MIX TRICKS As the saying goes, “If you’re going to steal, steal from the best.” A great way to get big drums is to use someone else’s sound. Here are two sonic thievery options for augmenting your home-studio drum tracks. Reverb Plug-Ins. Impulse or convolution reverbs are a great way to add quality reverb timbres to drums tracking in small spaces. These types of reverbs (Audio Ease Altiverb, Trillium Lane Labs TL Space, Digidesign www.soniccircus.com serious studio infrastructure Toll Free: 1 - 8 8 8 - S C 4 - G E A R (724-4327) Representing the best in new analog and digital recording equipment, Sonic Circus has the world’s largest showroom of API, Neve and SSL consoles, as well as choice vintage outboard gear and microphones. We provide expert service, support, and integration to project studios and commercial facilities worldwide. Matrix The New is here! call for details NO MONTHLY PAYMENTS & NO INTEREST FOR 6 MONTHS. For qualiﬁed applicants.* 500 Series Deals All Month Long Client Spotlight GEARHEADS WANTED! Inquire about career opportunities at Sonic Circus. Send your resume to: jobs@soniccircus.com Apply Online And Get Fast Approval Derek Trucks Takes delivery of The Kinks Neve 8048 Console. www.eqmag.com OCTOBER 2008 EQ 37 http://www.soniccircus.com http://www.soniccircus.com http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - October 2008

EQ Magazine - October 2008 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Punch In Smashing Pumpkins Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Cakewalk Sonar 7 Steinberg Cubase 4 Studio Meets Stage Gear for the Studio and Stage Sounds Room with a Vu

EQ Magazine - October 2008

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